Jairam Ramesh Criticizes India’s Education System Amid Growing Trend of Students Studying Abroad

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has criticized the Indian education system, calling the trend of students going abroad a symptom of a “diseased education system.” His remarks were made in response to Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar’s statement that studying abroad has become a “new disease” affecting students. Ramesh emphasized that this trend reflects deeper issues in India’s educational quality, exacerbated by political interference.

Speaking in Rajasthan, Dhankhar expressed concern over the increasing number of students leaving India to study abroad, labeling it as both a “forex drain” and “brain drain.” He highlighted that in 2024, an estimated 1.3 million students left India for education abroad, creating a USD 6 billion foreign exchange deficit.

Ramesh countered these views by highlighting the reasons students seek education abroad, including gaps in the quality of education, pressures from competitive exams like the CUET, and lack of professional opportunities in India. He stated, “Students going abroad is not the disease, it’s merely a symptom of a diseased education system, one that is getting worse by political interference.”